This is how the Army Corps of Engineers is helping Puerto Rico

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Mar 31, 2018
1 minute read
This is how the Army Corps of Engineers is helping Puerto Rico

SUMMARY

The Army Corps of Engineers is installing up to 500 temporary generators until Puerto Rico’s old and deteriorating power grid can be made operational again, but long-term total power restoration could take nearly a year, the Corps’ chief of engine…

The Army Corps of Engineers is installing up to 500 temporary generators until Puerto Rico's old and deteriorating power grid can be made operational again, but long-term total power restoration could take nearly a year, the Corps' chief of engineers told reporters at the Pentagon today.


The Corps is starting with public facilities and it faces power restoration to 3.4 million houses on the U.S. territory, some of which are in remote areas, Army Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite said.

Semonite said the island governor's immediate goals are to restore power to 30 percent of Puerto Rico by the end of October and to 50 percent by the end of November, which the general said he considers a challenge.

Soldiers from the Puerto Rico Army National Guard and the South Carolina Army National Guard team up to clear debris that blocks roads in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The Soldiers were working in the vicinity of Cayey, Puerto Rico. (36th Infantry Division photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Scovell)

The Corps is responding to the effects of four major hurricanes that struck the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands within a six-week span. Puerto Rico remains a challenge in part because it is an island, making it difficult to receive supplies, such as the 62,000 utility poles needed for power restoration.

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"Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands is a completely different paradigm," he said. "People have asked me in the last several weeks … 'Why don't you do in Puerto Rico what you could have done in Florida?' Because it is an island and it is very, very hard to just drive hundreds of pole trucks … down into the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico."

The Corps also needs about 338 utility towers, Semonite said, noting that each one is 75 feet long and must be flown in. "And then we need an awful a lot of connectors and cable, as well. But the whole goal is to get the transmission up and running," he added.

Four-fold Strategy

The Corps' power strategy is fourfold, starting with the temporary generators. As of today, 148 have been put in place, Semonite said.

The second line of effort is generation from the power plants.

"We need about 2,500 megawatts of power … to be able to restore the power back up to where it was at the beginning of the storm. Today, right now, we've got about 21.6 percent of that up," he said.

FORT BUCHANAN, Puerto Rico—Temporary power generators staged in a yard in Fort Buchanan are prepared for installation in critical facilities throughout Puerto Rico, October 8, 2017. Soldiers assigned to 249th Engineer Battalion (Prime Power), along with civilian U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responders are working with FEMA to provide power generators to support disaster relief emergency operations throughout Puerto Rico. (Army photo by Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Tarr, 24th Press Camp HQ)

Transmission is the third line of effort in the strategy to restore power, Semonite said. "The No. 1 goal right now of what the Corps is doing is to be able to move this electricity that's in the south up to the north," he explained.

The fourth line of effort is distribution -- getting power to homes and other buildings along terrain that is a massive logistics challenge, the general said.

"There are seven large power plants that normally run off of fossil fuel," he said. There are also about seven solar or wind power plants and 21 hydropower plants, Semonite added. But, the general explained, the majority of that power is generated in the southern part of the island, while the majority of the need is in the north -- particularly around San Juan.

Moving Power

And though transmission and distribution remain a challenge, there just isn't enough capacity in Puerto Rico's existing power plants to provide electricity to the island, Semonite said.

"Even if in fact all of the power plants are up and running, we would have a generation shortfall," he said. "So about a week and a half ago, we cut a contract to a large company to come back in and place a temporary power plant in San Juan."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begins the installation of two power generators at the Palo Seco Power Plant in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, Oct. 17, 2017. The power plant which was damaged by Hurricane Maria is currently operating at very low capacity. USACE is working with local and national contractors and the Puerto Rico Electric Authority to stabilize the power plant. Once the generators are operational they will provide 50 megawatts of power, which will be able to power over 11,000 homes. The Department of Defense is working with USACE, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the local government and other organizations to provide disaster relief in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Richard Colletta)

The Corps and the Defense Department are working alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Puerto Rico's local government to restore power to the island, he emphasized.

Restoring power to the island is going to take a massive, long-term rebuild of the power grid, Semonite said.

"So what we are doing is to go all-out and put as many generators in as we can, mainly in public facilities. We got a list from the governor, and all the mayors donated to that list," the general said. "And the list has got about 428 different requirements on it today."

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